Alex Mohseni retweetledi
Most people think a startup having a Clinician Co-Founder matters because of their healthcare knowledge. True, but there’s another reason that matters even MORE.
The other day someone asked me: “did being a physician give you an advantage in starting @SeamlessMD?”
Yes, it did in a lot of ways:
→ I had access to a bunch of clinicians to do our initial customer interviews. It would have been incredibly hard to get access to clinicians otherwise. That might sound crazy in 2026 when everyone is into Tech, but this was back in 2013 when there was a ton more skepticism.
→ I spoke the same lingo. I remember when my technical co-founders joined these customer interviews, a lot of things went over their heads because clinicians were speaking in clinical language at lightning speed. I was able to translate without slowing the clinicians down.
→ Healthcare organizations trusted us earlier and faster because of my clinical background. I had credibility in these conversations.
→ Even today, certain healthcare leaders trust our company more because they know myself and now 25% of my team members come from the clinical world. There’s an unspoken bond when you’ve lived in the actual complex clinical environment together.
Now those might seem more of the obvious reasons why having a Clinical Co-Founder is so valuable. But there’s actually ONE MORE, non-obvious reason why this changes the startup’s likelihood of success…
Because I have so much more to lose if we fail.
What do I mean?
I’ve seen Tech founders start a Health Tech company, raise hundreds of millions of investor dollars, sign up dozens of health systems or thousands of patients, and then at the first sign of trouble… poof, gone. Never heard from again in the healthcare system.
“It’s okay, I’ll just start another company in Real Estate, or Finance, or anything but that messed up, complicated world of Healthcare.”
But you see, it’s not that easy for me.
I grew up in the healthcare system. I have lots of friends and family in healthcare. This is core to my identity and what I personally care about.
If @SeamlessMD wasn’t honest and trust worthy; if SeamlessMD were to implode and health systems, care teams and patients could no longer benefit - it would destroy me.
Not just in my head, but my reputation in a healthcare community I care deeply about.
I can’t just “move on” to whatever The Current Thing in the Tech world is.
As a Clinician Co-Founder, I have a lot more to lose. Which means I have far more reason for us to get it right. I suspect many of my fellow Clinician Co-Founders have felt this way too.
And if that means we are even a bit more likely to succeed - I’m all for it.
English
